The Color of Murder
by BeautifulWeddingFlower
Summary: Not as fancy as title might suggest. Basically how Jeff acts his revenge upon Violette.


A few minutes before five PM on an unusually cold late October evening, Violette Brooks and one of her neighbors burst into Violette's apartment laughing. Sarah McLaughlin set little Sophia down on the couch and followed Violette into the kitchen. "Damn, Vi, you had to pick the coldest day of the year to go shopping?"

The younger woman smirked. "Well, New York is busy all the time. Why not go when it's cold? It was a little less busy."

"You flashed your celebrity status!" Sarah exclaimed with a giggle. She sighed. "John will want dinner when he gets home. Plus it is our anniversary."

"Thanks for helping me with the baby," Violette said absentmindedly. She hugged the woman and walked with her back into the living room. Sarah waved as she shut the door behind her. "Hello my sweetheart! How are you?" She lifted the baby up and cuddled it close. "You need a new diaper, I can tell that. Daddy won't be home until Sunday, so it's just you and me..." She hummed as she took the baby into one of the back rooms.

All was quiet in the front of the apartment. A clock chimed in the corner, signaling that it was finally five o'clock. The apartment door jiggled slightly, and then swung open silently, revealing a tall, thin, and lumbering man in the doorway. He had dull blond hair that was artistically streaked with green dye, but it made the wrinkles on his face stand out and made him look even older than he was. He moved like a snake into the living room and glanced down at the ink scribbles on the back of his left hand. "2104 Broadway Avenue," he mumbled. "Home of the famous Bagans' couple." He muffled a cough and licked his lips nervously. "Where are you...?"

The baby let out a wail from the back room and the intruder looked up, startled. Violette's voice soothed the baby softly. He grinned. "Come to Jeff, Vi baby." Jeff retreated behind the couch, crouching when the woman and her still grumpy baby entered the living room. She placed the little girl down in her playpen and turned away towards the kitchen.

Jeff stood and pulled out the gun he had hidden in his pocket just as Violette turned on the faucet and began washing dishes. He leaned against the doorway and grinned. "Hello Violette."

Violette yelped and dropped the plate in the sink, where it broke. She whirled around and gasped. "Jeff!"

"Missed me? I can tell you've been busy. Never saw you as the mom type, I must say."

He watched as she shook against the counter. "Please Jeff...just go..." She flinched when he held the gun up a little higher. "Please...let me live my life in hell, like you've always planned..."

"Are you happy here, Violette?"

His question obviously caught her off guard, because she stopped slinking to the right and cocked her head to the side as if in thought. "Yes. I'm happy. I have a loving husband and a beautiful baby girl. Her name is Sophia. Sophia Kaylee," she said in a rushed tone. He snorted.

"And how," he began placidly. "Would feel if someone ripped you away from them and threw you in prison for eight years? How would you feel?" he shouted, leveling the gun at her head. Her arms scrambled on the countertop behind her and she brought a steak knife in front of her.

"I didn't rape you. I didn't make the stupid mistake to do something unlawful and expect no consequences, you fool. I didn't play a shitty hand and expect the entire pot," she snapped. Behind him, the baby began to laugh and he glanced over his shoulder to see a mop of curly black hair and Violette's eyes copied onto a chubby cherub face. Violette swallowed and slunk towards the table. "Look at her Jeff. Would you make her grow up like me? Would you make her suffer without a mom?"

He glared at her. "I don't care. She's your spawn."

She flinched. "But she's beautiful. You wouldn't harm her."

"No, but I could certainly kill you now," he sneered. "I was just planning on killing you, but now that you've introduced me to your daughter, I think I've got a new plan." He positioned the gun at her chest. "Kill you, take the baby, and run. How's that sound?"

She was sobbing. "Kill me if you have to," she begged. "But don't take Sophia from Zak."

"And why should I give two shits about what Pretty-Boy Bagans will feel? He stole you from me, didn't he? Besides, she'll grow up fine." He walked over to the crib and picked up the baby. "See? She likes me!"

"She's not even a month old!" Violette screamed shrilly. "She likes everyone!"

Jeff shrugged and swaddled the infant in a blanket. He swung the gun up to Violette's chest. "I'm done here."

"Don't take my girl..." Violette sobbed. "Sophia...Sophia...!"

For a moment, he felt pity on Violette and said, "Take your daughter to her room. Pack her everything she'll need for me to take her. Leave her and everything there and come back." He held out the baby.

Violette stood up and cradled her baby to her chest, where she rocked it while sobbing. Jeff waited as she packed the baby's things in her room. He could hear her singing in a broken voice. Thirty minutes later, she quietly came out of the room and shut it softly. Jeff met her in the living room. "Is everything ready?"

She nodded as tears slid down her cheeks. "Jeff, please, remember our friendship..."

"The one you ruined when you sent me to jail?"

"The one _you_ ruined when you raped me!"

"I'm sorry I raped you."

"It's a little late! You're about to kill me and take my daughter away from my husband!"

He pressed the gun against her temple and leaned down to kiss her. She didn't respond, but she didn't jerk away either. "You will always be mine, Violette Brooks. Mine and mine alone."

She gave a muffled sob. "Please..."

His finger slid the safety off. "I'll take good care of your daughter. Promise. I love you, Vi. See you in hell."

A single shot rang out through the apartment and then silence settled down so thickly on the entire building that you could slice it with a knife. Violette jerked violently and then settled in his arms and did not move. There was a bright spray of blood all on the cream carpet and walls. Jeff let the body drop and stowed the gun back into his pocket. The baby was crying in the room and it took him only a few minutes to calm her down enough so he could put her in the removable car seat and grab the bag of her things. Jeff stepped over the lifeless body of Violette Brooks -whose wide blue eyes were staring up at the ceiling in terror- and shut the apartment door behind him. When they came running to investigate the noise minutes later, all they found was Violette dead, Sophia missing, and a letter addressed to Zak in the baby's room. Sarah McLaughlin closed the corpse's eyes and swallowed back tears. "Run! He can't have gotten far! Search everywhere!"

No one noticed a car driving away containing an aged man with green streaks in his hair and a sleeping newborn baby in the backseat.


End file.
